That's an interesting point, because my criticism really is only based on using this for "always on" status detection. I do think it could be an improvement to

That's an interesting point, because my criticism really is only based on using this for "always on" status detection. I do think it could be an improvement to streaming conversations, especially if you wanted to save bandwidth or have privacy like you mentioned. Maybe even for something like for online school classes? I read a while back about how for kids enrolled in online classes, teachers had a hard time telling who was being attentive during lectures without streaming video from every single student. This could be a good lower-bandwidth way to ensure kids are actually present, while also acting as a nice anti-bullying measure since they can't be judged on the quality of their real clothes or housing if it's not a real video.